The Adventure of Faith

My wife and I were at a dinner the other night and a friend asked me a very interesting question, “What was the most risky thing you have ever done in your life?” I think the answer I gave her was quite bland and unimpressive. My friend must have thought I was a toad. I’m sure she was thinking, “what a dud!” But the answer I gave her was true! I thought about my friend’s question in light of my response and decided that is I could go back in time and elaborate more clearly, this is what I would have said.

I have traveled to Ethiopia and driven across miles of dirt and rocky roads far from civilization. I was going to places I have never been before in a vehicle that eventually had three flat tires before we returned home. But that remote and dangerous travel in a third-world country wasn’t the riskiest thing I had ever done.

In my early twenties, my wife and I traveled to Austria. We hooked up with a mission agency that took Bibles and Christian resources behind what was then called the Iron Curtain. We had to pass through national check points with guards armed with machine guns as they scrutinized our passports and vehicle. With this group we traveled behind the Iron Curtain to East Berlin, Budapest, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. Some in our group were caught at the border going into Hungry, questioned for hours, searched, held and eventually expelled from the country. We were aware that the secret police had the technology to listen into conversations while you were driving in the car. Times were often quite tense and scary. But this wasn’t the riskiest thing I had ever done.

Kirkuk, Iraq

A few years ago I traveled to Iraq to attend a conference of Iraqi Christians who gathered from all over their country. The war was waging, Saddam was still at large, and we had armed guards with us wherever we went. To fly into Baghdad, we had to stay at a high altitude until we were directly over the airport and then steeply spiral down to a landing. This was the only way to avoid being shot down by a shoulder held surface-to-air missile. During the nights you could often hear gun fire. But being in Iraq during the middle of war wasn’t the riskiest thing I had ever done.

Traveling remote distances in Ethiopia, smuggling Bible into Eastern Block countries, and being in Iraq during times of intense warfare all involved risk and at times were extremely stressful. But those adventures, although dangerous, did not define what I would describe as my highest risk.

The answer I gave to my friend was “church planting.” CHURCH PLANTING! Why is that so risky you ask. Church planting in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Monterey counties is so similar to what God asked of Abram. “Leave your family, your people, and your country and go to the place I will show you.” In this type of faith response, there are no guaranteed finances, people support, or pathway. God shows you as you go. For people who like to have a plan in place before they start the journey, church planting is a killer. It is pioneering work. You are constantly going into new territory. You are doing things you have never done before. Sure there are things you can learn from others, but the particular path God has for you is quite unique. It is not for the timid. Many times Laura and I have wanted to quit. We often wonder if we are whacked. On this road of faith there is no security apart from God.

The other three ventures I described were quite risky for a short period of time. But we are on this current road of church planting untll death. While parts of the church planting journey grow easier as we learn, there are always new unexpected challenges to face. Most people would not think of church planting as being risky…but believe me, it is the riskies thing I have ever done.

About

My name is David Gschwend and I have been journeying with Jesus since 1971. He had been pursuing me a lot longer than that, but it was my senior year in high school that I finally decided to start following him. After graduating from college I taught high school biology and chemistry for four years. After that, I worked in the electrical industry in testing and troubleshooting high, medium and low voltage power equipment. Finally in 1989 my journey took me into the pastoral ministry. After 16 years serving in traditional churches Jesus led me in June 2006 to begin a movement of networks of reproducing house churches from San Jose to Monterey, CA (www.gatheringbythebay.org). This has been the craziest part of the journey so far!